Carmen Monica Oprea

I was wondering what I should write about today. Because today is such a special day everywhere in Europe: Mother’s Day. I am blessed because I can celebrate the day twice. March the 8^th is the first time, and the second time will be on May the 10^th.

What is a mother? Can we find the right words to describe the only being in this entire world who will willingly sacrifice for her children?

A mother is the one who carried us in her womb; who watched over us when we were sick; who wiped our tears and tended to our wounds when we were in pain. A mother is the one who smiled at us even when we did wrong, who never ceased to believe that one day we will reach the stars.

How many of us took for granted her existence? How many of us forgot to say thank you or I love you? How many times is enough to show our appreciation, I wonder? A hundred times, a thousand times will it be sufficient to tell the woman how precious she is, how lovely she looks even if her hair is silver now and her hands lost the elasticity of the youth?

Mother, I want you to know that may love for you has never lost its power even if now you are just another star in the vastness of the universe. I can still feel you watching over me, I can feel your love because you shroud me in it, and you have never let me feel lonely. I wish I will own the power to offer you all the flowers in the world, I wish I can tell you how much I love you for everything you’ve done for me. I wish I can take back all the moments when I forgot to thank you for being my mother.

I was blessed to have you as mine, and now I have to share you with the entire universe!

It is never easy to meet someone to encompass all the traits you are looking for in the perfect life partner. Who the perfect partner is? A guideline to compare possibilities. In the beginning, you meet, fall in love and learn about each other. You go on day after day hoping that the other person is your dream partner. One day, when the magic is gone, when you meet the blank stare of your partner, you find yourself at a crossroad asking yourself what road to choose. The hardest thing to do is to let go of someone you never thought you will say goodbye. You are convinced you’ve done everything in your power to make it work; you quit your dreams for their happiness; you let go of your hopes and embraced theirs. One day, you realize that your life isn’t as you envisioned it to be. You didn’t accomplish any of the plans you’ve made because you always worked on fulfilling the expectations. Then, you stop and rethink every step you took and discovered the faults.

You didn’t give up yet, but you feel an unending sting. You have to live the life you envisioned. You need to take all the time you need to numb the pain. It will get easier with time and, as soon as you meet the real love of your life, the last one will become overshadowed; it will make the last one diminish in intensity. You take your time to imagine the perfect person and point out which areas your past partner felt short. You need to make it clear to yourself why you had to let the person go. You would never stop loving them completely because they became a part of you, but you would stop loving them romantically.

We may think we have many friends in our lives, but the truth is that some of them are just acquaintances. We met them through Facebook, Skype or other socializing nests, we added them to our account, and, when we do the math, we realize we have hundreds of friends. But are they my friends? Have I spent time with them, do they know my family or have they visited my home?
Cleaning my friend closet started a long time ago. I gave it the same attention I gave to my clothing closet. I usually got rid of the negative prompts first, freshened up my image and welcomed positivity into my life. It is an excellent way to make room for real friends that will enhance my life and energy, not take from or drain it.
There are obviously allowances to every rule. I have to do what feels right for me. It is just important for me to remember that if a person does not make me feel good, support my choices or share my desire for a happier, more fulfilling life, they may not have a place in it.
People will always arrive in my life, and they will go their way. They will bring great experiences with them, and none will be finer than learning to let them go when their lesson is complete.

This simple word hides meaning. What is trust? Should we trust the people in our lives? Some will say it is naïve to think that fellow people have your best interests at heart. Maybe they do, but maybe they don’t. By nature, people tend to act on what they think it’s best for them. Their desires will always go first. It is your choice to give your trust to the people around you. Trust builds with every new step that we take, day by day, moment by moment. Should you believe your friend will not betray you if it benefits her/his goals? Is she/he going to stand by you when incertitude clouds your mind? Is she/he going to listen to your heart’s song and wipe the tears carving your face?

Trust means putting your fate in someone else’s hands and taking the risk. When you find yourself at a crossroad, you trust your instincts to guide you on the right path. Should you trust the person who says: Trust me? Trust means telling the truth, even when it is hard to do so, even when you know you will hurt someone. First, look into your soul and decide what you want. The moment you’ll understand yourself you will trust that you took the right decision. Trust doesn’t happen overnight. To trust someone with your life is the biggest accomplishment you can achieve in life. To trust someone it means to be convinced of the person’s competence and reliability.

This is a short story that it came to my attention and I would like to share it with you. Sometimes, all we need is to find our bridge.

“Caught in an unemotional torrent, she was soaked to the bones. She seemed to have cried for hours. I wouldn’t know for sure since her tears blended with the rain’s droplets. They dangled for a while until they had smashed in the sizzling face of our dying love. Her eyes pleaded with mine.

“Find a way!” She signaled from the other side, and her arms rose in the air as the butterfly’s wings.

“I can’t! I’ve already tried, and it didn’t work out,” I said to the woman.  She had hurt me so bad that I pushed her out of my heart and hid her image within the other memories.

I wanted to forget her, but I couldn’t. The memory of our first kiss stroked me. One summer evening, we found ourselves enveloped in the sweet fragrance of jasmine. Her beautiful eyes, two windows to a tormented soul, pierced mine, and I couldn’t let go of her gaze. Her lips opened up in an electrifying smile, and I understood I had lost myself to her.

How did we end up here? I was on one side of the bridge, and she waited for me on the other. The winding river carried fragments of our life together, merged with the others’ memories, and the only connection we had it was that bridge. It had stroke me that they would get lost somewhere in the vast ocean called life and become insignificant.

They had been special once, and I couldn’t let go of them. I checked the bridge. It had been built to stand firm, and it sustained hundreds of love stories like ours. One step ahead of the other it was all it took…She was there waiting for me with her arms opened wide, so I ran and I crashed against her body. She whispered to me.

“I am your only bridge to the outside world!”

To all my friends I wish a great start this year and I hope it will only get better and better every day.
One thing about me is that I love quotations I find when I explore the amazing world of books. I write many of them in a diary and use them to inspire me. At times, few clever words can make a difference. So I thought I’d share some with you here, to inspire you too. I hope you like them as much as I do:
“Life is beautiful, as long as it consumes you. When it is rushing through you, destroying you, life is gorgeous, glorious. It’s when you burn a slow fire and save fuel that life’s not worth having.”
D. H. Lawrence

“So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life’s a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.”
Marilyn Monroe

“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
Lao Tzu

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
Marcus Aurelius

Happy New Year to you, all my love, Carmen